I have been thinking a lot lately about how i want to present the new single. It’s a remake of an old 80′s Bollywood song called Aap Jaisa Koi-obvioulsy spruced us with a sexy western stylie. It’s a homage to old Bollywood and my mom and aunt who loved the movie. As a kid, i remember the movie being off limits due to its racy content. So what else is new. I’m Indian and a girl. Apparently…girls don’t like to do anything sexy or racy. Cover your eyes. You may see someone kiss. Oh wait, they didnt kiss in Indian movies in those days, just ran around half naked with so much sex appeal you could cut it like a knife. I love the way we do it in Bollywood. Always..just enough.

Poetry is a treasure in my life. When I have a thought but don’t have the words for it, I listen to music and read poetry. It is through the reading and art of poetic words that I find my voice again. I revel in musicality of words that poets can string together so flawlessly. Some days, I can spend hours reading through the layers of intended meaning. I want to peal back each letter, each word to understand deeper. What did the poet really mean?
Rainer Maria Rilke has been an instrumental figure in shaping my love for the art of poetry. I first encountered Rilke through his ten letters to Franz Kappus, a young 19-year-old poet who sought the critique of his poetic works by Rilke. The letters were published as “Letters to a Young Poet” after RIlke’s death. They contained more about the journey and struggle of life and loneliness than the literary criticism Kappus was looking for.
It’s obvious from the letters that Kappus confessed a loneliness he didn’t know how to handle. Rilke’s advice to move towards the aloneness rather than run from it, declaring that aloneness was a part of our nature, speaks to the truth of our being –even today. “To be lonely as one was lonely as a child…that must be the goal…look at the world as a child would see it- out of the depth of your own world.”
Rilke’s theory of solitude is a spiritual constant in my life. I have tried to move into solitude. To quiet the mind. To live like the poet I so admire…
Written over a century ago, the letters apply to current day with so much ease, it’s as if no time had passed at all. Within them, there is insightful understanding, mystical revelations and spiritual connection. They have become a guide to the answers I seek.

“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. Letters to a Young Poet”

Things always take longer then you think they will. Take for example my album, or my video or even something as simple thing as getting photos taken for my album. Every time i allocate a certain amount of time for something, it takes double the time to finish! Why?

So, here i am updating you about my music video. Yes! It’s gna be done soon! I promise. I spent the entire day today shooting some more footage- to expand the story. I thought the story needed a little more then me just cozied up with a hot body…although that didn’t hurt the footage. You’ll enjoy my video man, and if i can be honest- he was really for all my women friends…and yes, i was acting…

M

It’s been an exciting month for me, with the video release around the corner. I’m having a wonderful time just creating different mediums for the expression of my art. The video itself is going through another revision -i thought there needed to be a deeper narrative between the two leads. I know, I know…its just a music video right? Well, in my opinion- there is always a story that needs telling…it may not be my story but there is a story-maybe its your story..and for me its the story of the song is paramount.

In any case, my small group of friends got to see the video in its first incarnation..i got some incredible feedback about the video and how to really tell the story of this song. What i loved the most was the unbelievable support i received from my friends. Everyone who came was a part of the journey. They were part of the bigger picture that has created the music in my life. I feel incredibly blessed to have the good fortune to do something i love.

Yesterday was the release of the 3rd Gift CD by Sounds of Blackness! It was super exciting for me. I have always had high regard for Gary Hines and Sounds and its always nice to see your friends keep moving on their dreams. This particular CD is very special to me because Gary asked me to work on a track with him that was partially inspired by a conversation i had with Barak Obama. I told Gary about the first time i met Barak, generally i was a little unimpressed because i was still a little sour that Hillary was not going to be President. I’m all about the advancement of women and can’t say Barak had my confidence at first but it wasnt long before Barak won me over with his insight and charm. One thing in particular he said to me that stayed with me and that was , “we are ONE”. I was amazed at his choice in words and how he tried to relate to me, even with the attitude I was wearing.I let go for a minute and realized he had something really powerful to say and started listening. It’s always very humbling to me when i see a person chose the high road. His words have remained with me and now they are part of a beautiful song. The song, Audacity of Hope (we are one)”. The song is a homage to our president. Gary also chose to dedicate it to Michael Jackson, who was killed this year from drug overdose. Its a true reminder to me of how things come around full circle and i am grateful for the tiny part that i played in creating something deeper.

I’m in the middle of the year, middle of finishing my album, middle of my life…

The album is taking far longer than i wanted it to. I have now decided that i can do nothing to speed it up. No amount of pushing, anguishing or distress will move things faster. Its a funny thing…this need for control. ONE DAY..i shall master it! Control the need to control..LOL…

have a great day people

This weekend i went on a little trip with my girlfriends because one of my girls broke up with the guy she thought she was going to marry. I have to say, even though the reason we decided to go on this trip was sad, the result of being together and really loving one another was amazing. So much came out of our conversations…there were some gripping discoveries…one of my girlfriends had been an African Princess for a little while, apparently her mother had a short lived marriage to a Nigerian Prince. Yes…i know. I was captivated by the great conversation and feel that the true interest and love gave way to something greater.

I am so glad for my girlcation..and now have decided me and girls need to travel away from our men, away from the day to day and just breathe, talk and laugh in each others company.

I have a sore throat. I am scheduled for studio time this week and next. Everything is set, everyone is waiting on me and I am waiting on my voice. I\’ve been inhaling, gargling, chewing and ingesting every kind of medicine i can think of. Today, i went to whole foods and bought Echinascea Goldenseal Propolis throat spray. The one thing i havent done yet. It instructs you to spray three times. I barely could get past two distasteful squirts that numbed the back of my throat and tongue. Was that suppose to happen? In any case, i may have to resort to the tried and true. Brandy, water and lemon…now that has to work!!!!

I have to say, i love the cyclical web of life. Everything seems to come around full circle. Specifically, i am talking about when relationships that were once lathered in scorn or hatred and then over time come to a deeper understanding of acceptance. We can never change ANYONE but we can change our feelings and response to that person. As time passes, we learn that the only power we have is the power OVER ourselves. No one else. Its funny how subsequent desire to control fades when we realize we have no control.